Coal trains public hearing will provide answers

The most important thing about democracy is it requires citizen participation to make it work.

Spokane County and Eastern Washington residents have a unique opportunity to do just that on an issue that is slowly rising to the hot-button level: Coal trains. And in that regards, everyone should mark Dec. 4 on their calendars.

That’s the date the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Ecology and other regulatory agencies are holding a public hearing to receive testimony on a proposal to move millions of tons of coal mined in the Powder River Basin area of Wyoming and Montana through o...